Apparatus for mixing and dispensing heavy liquids



P. GRABLER AND J. G. PHIPPS. APPARATUS FOR MIXING AND DISPENSING HEAVY LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, I9l8. A

Patented Dec. 2,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I .Zzzzrezzzars. @M

P. GRABLER- AND J. G. PHIPPS.

APPARATUS FOR MIXING AND DISPENSING HEAVY LIQUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, I918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Patented D c. 2,1919.

UNliTED STAT Arena ornrc n.

PETER GRABLER, 0F LAKEWOOD, AND JOEL G. Pl-IIPPS, OF CLEVELAND,-OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE YOUMAN S MACHINE COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPQBATION OF OHIO.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, PETER GRABLER and Joan G. PHIrrs, citizens of the United States, residing at Lakewood and Cleveland, respectively, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Mixing and Dispensing Heavy Liquids, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for mixing and dispensing heavy liquids.

Many heavy liquids are difiicult to handle and dispense properly. Certain oils are compounded by blending heavy and light oils, and when stored in areservoir in quantity the heavy oil settles to the bottom by gravity so that if the oil is drained or withdrawn from one part of the tank a uniform compound is not obtained. In handling liquid paints or other heavy materials containing solid matter in suspension the solid matter also sinks to the bottom and clogs up the ports, passages and delivery pipes. or the inlet to the pump, and even if this difficulty is overcome it is practically impossible to drawbif a uniform mixture when the contents have stood for an ap-.

prcciable time. Cements, such as are used in the rubber industry, also are diflicult to deliver as a uniform composition, due to the separation of certain heavier ingredients.

The object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for mixing and handling the foregoing and "other similar heavy liquids, so as to enable a uniform product to be drained off or withdrawn from the reser-' voir at any time, and which apparatus also prevents clogging up the delivery pipes and passages. 7 V

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of this kind. which is of simple construction, which can be readily applied to tanks and reservoirs now in use, and which can be constructed and maintained at low cost Further objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

The invention comprises the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, which represent one embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is an outside elevation; Fig. 2 is a sectional eleva- Specification of Letters Patent.

APPARATUS FOR MIXING AND nIsPENsInGHEAvY mourns.

tion on the line 2 2, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, the mixing members being shown in elevation for simplicity of illustration, and parts being omitted; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view from beneath of the tank cover and the parts carriedthereby;

Referring to the drawings, 1 illustrates the tank or reservoir for containing the liquid. This may be of any suitable shape but is shown as cylindrical and may-be'of any desired size, either a very large tank holding hundreds or thousands of gallons,

7 Patented Dec. 2, 1919.

Application filed May 20, 1918. Serial No. 235,462.

such as a mixing vat in a paint-mill orfor compoundingoils, ormay be a smaller tank of portable form. For purposes'of illustration the drawings show a small tank provided with suitable wheels 3, 4ienabling it to be moved from place to place. Said tank is provided with a removable top or cover 5, which may be bolted or otherwise secured to the body, and which supports the mechanism to be described. Said coveris also proy i'dedwith an opening 6 through which the liquid to'be dispensed may be introduced into the tank and which also serves as adrain opening for draining back into the tank excess of liquid discharged from the faucet as hereinafter described.

7 indicates in conventional formthe casing or outer tubular Jacket of. a suitable pump having a hub S secured to the top 5 at. its-center, so that the pump tube is axially raised by elevation of the pump piston is discharged through a pipe 15 provided'with a faucet 16. which is either over the inlet 6 or may be turned to a position over the same so that excess liquid drains back intothe tank.

The mechanism involved in the present in vention remains to be described and comprises suitable devices for mixing up the liquid in the tank so as to either maintain a uniform blend or prevent deposition of, the heavier materials or ingredients at the hottom of the tank. This mechanism is located within the tank and at the side of the central pump tube. As illustrated said mechanism comprises a stationary gear 17 surrounding the pump hub 8 and suitably secured to the cover, such as by the screws or bolts 18. Below said gear is spider 19 supported on the hub 8 by a nut 20, said body having peripheral gear teeth 21 meshing with a small pinion 22 on a vertical shaft 23 passing through the cover and rotating in a sleeve 24E secured thereto. Shaft 23 is provided with suitable driving means, either a hand crank or suitable means for connecting said-shaft to power mechanism. As illustrated the shaft is provided with a worm gear 25 driven by a worm 26 on the shaft of a motor 27 carried by the tank top.

Operation of the motor obviously rotates the gear body 19 about the pump hub 8 as a bearing. Said gear body has one, two or more radial arms 28 provided with perforated bosses 29 forming bearings for vertieal shafts 30, which, above saidzgear body, are provided with small gears 31 meshing with the central stationary gear 17, as a consequence of which the gears 31 have planetary movement about the stationary gear so that the shafts Erotate as they travel in their orbits about the central axis.

Each shaft 30 is provided with or formed as aconveyor screw of peculiar and spe-v cial form, its function being to thoroughly mix up the ingredients in-the tank in such manner as to cause the heavier ingredients in the lower part of the: tank to rise and the lighter ingredients in the upper part of the tank to move downwardly. As illustrated each shaft 30 is provided with one or several spiral vanes or flights the upper portion thereof having its spirality in one direction and the lower portion thereof having a spirality in the opposite direction. In other words, that portion of the vanes or flights on the upper half of each shaft 30, that portion extendingfrom-the top of-the tank half-way down the same may be of one spirality, say that of alefthanded screw, while the remaining portion of the vanes and flights on the lower half of the shaft is of the opposite spirality, that of a right-handed screw. Thetwo vanes or parts of vanes therefore meet mid-way of the height of the shaft in a sharp edge or radially extending apex 38.

Furthermore, as illustrated, shafts 30 are unsupported at their lower ends, the inherent strength of said shafts being relied upon to resist lateral bending strains, but in larger installations or with very heavy liquids, the lower ends of the shaft may be journaled in bearings in a spider rotatable about the central axis and in all respects similarto the spider illustrated'at the upper end of the tank.

The gea ring is so constructed with reference to the motor or the shaft 23 is sorota-ted as to cause the shafts 30 to turn in the proper directions to cause the spiral vanes to force downwardly the material in the upper part of the tank and raise the material in the lower part of the tank. The vanes on each shaft are also of such size as to extend practically from the outer wall of the tank to a point closely adjacent the pump tube. Therefore, in the orl'iitalmovement of the shaft around. the pump every particle of material in the tank is disturbed and the entire mass is thoroughly mixed up into a homogeneous mass.

, What we claim is:

I 1. hfiixing apparatus, comprising a cylin' drical tank, and stirring mechanism therein, said mechanism including members having vanes helically disposed about verticalaxes, and means for producing cycloidal movement of said vanes around the central axis of said tank.

2. Mixing apparatus, comprising a cylindrical tank, and stirring mechanism therein, said mechanism including members having vanes helically disposed about vertical axes, V

and means for producing cycloidal movement of said'vanes around the central axis of said tank, the helical vanes on each of said members being of opposite spirality.

3. Mixing apparatus, comprising a cylindrical tanl', and stirring mechanism therein,

said mechanism including members having PETER GRABLER. JOEL G. PHIPPS. 

